As time goes by, I’m appreciating the “Britney” album more and more. Each time I play it, I tell myself “Hmm, yeah - that track’s better than I thought!” And the last time I played it, one track stood out as particularly underrated - “Let Me Be”, which comes from the same sessions as the magnificent “Lonely”. Here are the words:

You try to read me
You try to figure out
You try to breathe me
But you can't blow me out
You try to feel me
But I'm so out of touch
I won't be falling
You won't have to pick me up
Sorry if I sound confused
I don't feel the way you do
But I won't turn around
But I won't turn around

You think I might back down but I won't
Think that I might have doubts but I don't
No insecurities
Won't you just let me, let me be
Think that you know me now, but you don't
Think that I can't stand on my own
Ain't my philosophy
Won't you just let me, let me be

Trust in my instincts
Trust that I know what's right
These are the reasons
That keep you up at night
Tell me "Go Slow" - this is my flow
'Cos you don't know, know what I know
Let me tell you how it feels
Baby it's time that you see me for real
Sorry if I sound confused
I don't feel the way like you do
But I won't turn around
But I won't turn around

You think I might back down but I won't
Think that I might have doubts but I don't
No insecurities
Won't you just let me, let me be
Think that you know me now, but you don't
Think that I can't stand on my own
Ain't my philosophy
Won't you just let me, let me be

Trust that I know, this is my show
Letting you know, gotta go the way I go

Trust that I know, this is my show
Letting you know, gotta go the way I go

You think I might back down but I won't
Think that I might have doubts but I don't
No insecurities
Won't you just let me, let me be
Think that you know me now, but you don't
Think that I can't stand on my own
Ain't my philosophy (ain't my philosophy, yeah)
Won't you just let me, let me be
You think I might back down but I won't
Think that I might have doubts but I don't
No insecurities (no insecurities)
Won't you just let me, let me be

Think that you know me now, but you don't
Think that I can't stand on my own
Ain't my philosophy
Won't you just let me, let me be

You think I might back down but I won't
Think that I might have doubts but I don't
No insecurities
Won't you just let me, let me be
Think that you know me now, but you don't
Think that I can't stand on my own
Ain't my philosophy
Won't you just let me, let me be

“Let Me Be” is one of the most perfectly structured pop songs you’re likely to hear. Just take a listen to how memorable and ear-grabbing the words are, how perfectly the words fit the melody, how the melody moves smoothly and steadily through the verses to short, staccato phrases, how the staccato phrases are joined up to form little Latin-style frivolities (“Trust that I know...”) how aggression and fun are perfectly balanced. This song is an unheralded masterpiece and I’d love to have written it.

Like a lot of tracks that have grabbed my ear in the course of this retrospecrive investigation, “Let Me Be” was written by Josh Schwartz and Brian Kierulf. Although Brian and Josh handled vocal production, the final production was down to Rodney Jerkins. And a fine job he made of it. Where Brian and Josh tend in their own productions to create a somewhat blurred ambiance from which lead vocals and effects emerge as required, Rodney Jerkins serves up an extremely crisp recording in which all the elements are clearly distinguishable.

Some live musicianship is involved - Isaac Philips plays guitar and Brian Kierulf plays bass as well as sharing the synth programming with Josh. Backing vocals are by Britney and Jennifer Karr. Jennifer hums and Britney does most of the singing. Isaac’s guitar doesn’t have too much to do, in fact, but Brian’s bassline is a true virtuoso effort - melodic, imaginative, wide-ranging,providing melodic as well as rhythmic support. A good thing too, since the rhythm track is a perfunctory synth-drums affair featuring nothing more than extremely electronic-sounding snare drum and hi-hat.

To my mind, Britney delivers one of her best-ever vocal performances. She begins extremely smoothly, singing with perfect control against an odd little humming counterpoint, and increases her power and assertiveness almost imperceptibly to the point where her interjected “it ain’t my philosophy!” is almost a soul shout. As a demonstration of the variety and subtlety of her approach, she sings softly at the outset as she often does, but this time she's in a lower register, and little-girlishness is completely absent.

To further enhance the demonstration, Britney’s lead vocal is placed dead center and never moves, and is presented in a very stripped-down acoustic, with no reverb or double tracking. If you’re listening over high-quality headphones you can actually separate Britney’s acappella from everything else and it becomes clear that the track was simply built up around her. And this helps us to appreciate what a very good singer she is in the studio environment. It’s an entirely characteristic vocal too, and some repeated listening reveals just how unusual and distinctive she is. From the first note, it could only be Britney.

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